Sheet gripping means for cutting and creasing press



AA F. sHxELDs 3,042,398 SHEET GRIPPING MEANS FOR CUTTING AND cREAsING PREss 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 F .WKN N NAN .rn .IPNI

July 3, 1962 Original Filed June l5, 1954 A. F. SHIELDS July 3, 1962 SHEET GRIPPING MEANS FOR CUTTING AND CREASING PRESS d June l5, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original File A F. SHIELDS July 3, 1962 SHEET GRIPPING MEANS FOR CUTTING AND CREASING PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed June l5, 1954 BY MM@ 3,042,398 Patented July 3, 1962 3,042,398 SHEET GRIPPING MEANS FOR CUTTING AND CREASING PRESS Albert F. Shields, Forest Hills, NY., assigner to S & S Corrugated Paper Machinery Company Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of N ew York Original application June 15, 1954, Ser. No. 436,937, now Patent No. 2,905,067, dated Sept. 27, 1959. Divided and this application Sept. 18, 1957, Ser. No. 684,797

This application is a division of copending application 436,937, filed .lune 15, 1954 as Well as a continuation-inpart thereof said copending application having issued as Patent 2,905,067 on September 27, 1959. 4

My present invention relates to cutting and creasing presses and more particularly to sheet gripping means for the cutting and creasing press which will lmake it possible to positively control the sheet as it moves through the press by engaging the sheet and remaining in engagement therewith at all times from prior to the cutting and creasing operation until after withdrawal from the cutting and creasing elements.

Cutting and creasing presses are known which utilize essentially a die in which appropriate blades for cutting and for creasing are placed, the said die cooperating with the pressure member which is movabie towards and away from the die so that a sheet placed between the die and the pressure member will be cut and creased in accordance with the positioning of the Various blades.

U.S. application Serial No. 454,776, tiled September 8, 1954 (S404) and assigned to the assignee of this invention, now U.S. Patent No. 2,776,610, shows a cutting and creasing press in which the die member is arranged in the machine in a horizontal position with the blade projecting downwardly therefrom and a quadrant acting as the pressure member is rolled with respect to the die after a sheet has been placed between the quadrant and the die.

My present invention relates in one aspect thereof to a novel means for operation of a platen. One of the major problems in cutting and creasing operations is the sirnpliication of the control of the sheet. It is desirable for efficient operation that the sheets be not handled individually but be fed from a` stack into the mechanism. It is also desirable that the delivery end of the machine be entirely automatic, and it therefore becomes necessary that the timing of all of the elements from the stack to delivery be closely integrated.

The major problem that has arisen in prior cutting and' creasing presses is the control of the movement of the sheet to be cut and creased at the various points between o the feed section and the delivery section, Various methods have been utilized including feed slats for feeding the sheet into the press and gripping members for pulling the sheet from the press; manual placement of the sheets in the press and removal therefrom; feed means which in various ways positions the sheet into the press combined with suction means for removing the sheet from the press.

In no case has full control of the sheet been maintained throughout the entire operation by a single member which engages the sheet prior to its entry into the press, remains in engagement with the sheet during operation of the press thereon, and draws the sheet from the press immediately subsequent to the operation thereon and delivers the sheet to an appropriate delivery belt, stack or other means.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of novel means for engaging a sheet to be operated on in a cutting and creasing press prior to the entry of the sheet into the cutting and creasing press, the said means drawing the sheet into the press and remaining in engagement therewith during the operation of the press, the said means thereafter drawing the sheet out of the press to the delivery end of the machine.

A corollary object of my invention is the provision of control means for the sheet to be moved into and through a cutting and creasing press where the control means en gaged the delivery end or leading end of the sheet and remains in engagement therewith at all times from prior to the cutting and creasing operation through the cutting and creasing operation until after the withdrawal of the sheet from the cutting and creasing elements.

A yfurther object is to provide a lightweight and compact, yet rigid, construction for the controller sheet gripping means hereinbefore referred to, with the gripping means being synchronously operated with the cutting and creasing press by a cam operated spring means..

While quadrants for use as pressure members in cutting and creasing presses are known, my invention has for another object the provision of novel operating means for a cylindrically curved pressure member where the pressure member need not necessarily'be a true quadrant although it should be geometrically some part of a cylinder.

The foregoing and many other objects of my invention will ybe apparent in the following description and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation in schematic form of my novel cutting and creasing press.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic detail of the lfeeding member or slat of my invention showing the same at the point of initial engagement with the sheet.

FIGURE 3 is a view corresponding to that of FIGURE 2 showing another position of the elements at the point of initial engagement.

FIGURE 4 is a schematic perspective of my novel cutting and creasing press showing at the left hand end of the figure, the side elements in the position of FIGURES 2 and 3, showing at the center of the ligure -the feed elements in the position they occupy during the cutting and creasing operation, and showing the Same feed elements at the right hand end in the position they occupy at the delivery portion of the operation.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary plan View of tubular slet and one of the plurality of sheet grippers carried] thereby.

FIGURE 6 is a cross section taken through line 6 6 of FIGURE 5 looking in the direction of arrows 6--6.

FIGURE 7 is a schematic 4detail similar to FIGURE 2 utilizing the slat and gripper of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 8 is a schematic detail similar to FIGURE 3 utilizing the slat and gripper of FIGURE 5.-

Referring iirst to FIGURE 1, my novel cutting and creasing press comprises a plurality of sections which are here referred to as the stack delivery section 10, the uncut blank feed section 11, the cutting and creasing section -12, and the delivery section 13. The stack feed section 10 comprises a bed plate 20 having an adjustable side gauge 21 and an adjustable front gauge 22. The front gauge 22Ais so arranged that a gap 23 is provided between the bottom `end of the lfront gauge 22 and the bed plate 20` of the stacking device, the said gap being adjusted to `have a width greater than the thickness' of any single sheet in the stack but less than the thickness of any two sheets in the stack.

Thus when the feed slat 25 of the stacking device 10 engages the rear edge of the lowest sheet in the stack on the bed 20, it will push this lowest sheet out of the gap 23, while the front gauge V2,2. will hold back the upper sheets.

For this purpose, the thickness of the operating edge of the feed slat 25 is somewhat less than the thickness of the lowest sheet in the stack. The feed slat 25 is carried by a platform 27' which is operated back and forth -by the crank 28 on the shaft 29 connected by links 30 and 31 to the pivot 32 on the feed slat operating platform 27, the pivot 34 between links 31 and 30 being controlled in their movement by link 35 secured at one end to the pivot 34 and at tne other end to the stationary pivot 36.

The crank 28 is driven by appropriate connection not shown to the motor shaft 40 of motor 41 at a desired speed to perform the feed operations at intervals as required by the remainder of the machine as hereinafter pointed out. The motor shaft 46, since it drives and controls the drive of all of the other elements of the machine as hereinafter pointed out, also by reason of its connection to crank shaft 29 and crank 28' can also, by appropriate gear ratios, be made to time the operation of the feed slat 25 to initiate the forward cycle at the appropriate instant.

The particular form of the stack feed device 16 forms no part of the present invention here and therefore has been described schematically only since the feed mechanism is more fully described in issued Patents No. 2,336,507 and No. 2,583,712, and therefore requires no further description here.

The sheet,'once it is fed from the bed 2t) of the stack feeding device 10, is moved between the feed rollers 50, 51 which are also operated in a manner not shown from the motor shaft 4t). The feed rollers 50, 5'1 serve to ensure that the sheet, no mater how short it is, will be transmitted from the stack feeding device 10 to the feed' belts 53 and 54. The feed belts 53 and 54 are operated by drive rolls 55 and 56 respectively connected also in a manner not shown but readily understood to the motor shaft 40 by gears or preferably by chain and socket connections, the connection to the single control member 40 ensuring synchronism.

As a matter of fact, as is well known in the art, and as is suggested by the patents above mentioned, a single chain may be used from a sprocket on` motor shaft 4t) to a sprocket on crank shaft 28, a sprocket on one of the feed rolls 50 and a sprocket on one of the belt rolls 56.

The sheet, once it is delivered from the stack feeding device 10, is positioned forward between feed rolls 50, 51 between the adjacent runs ofl belts 53 and 54 which are biased towards each other by pressure rolls 57, 58 to feed the sheet towards the cutting and creasing section 12. The sheet, at the cutting and creasing section 12, is fed into a slat member 60a shown in highly schematic form in FIGURE l, but shown in detail in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4. The slat member 60 is so arranged that it is provided with a pair of jaws which are open to receive the sheet, the slat being stationary at the feed end of the cutting and creasing press. After the sheet is inserted in the jaws of the. slat 60, the jaws close and the sheet is drawn into the cutting and creasing press by the movement of slat 60 to the right with respect to FIGURE l. This operation isy broadly described at this point so that the general operation will be understood, owing to the fact that a specific description of the cutting and creasing section 12 per se is here appropriate.

The cutting and creasing section 12. comprises a die 65 supported in any appropriate manner on the under side of flat form 66. which is carried by the cross head 67 which in turn is supported by posts 68, 68 on the sides of the machine. To this extent the die corresponds substantially to the similar member shown in the U.S. application Serial No. 454,776 led September 8, 1954 and assigned to the assignee of this invention. The die 65 is, of course, provided with cutting and creasing blades 70 projecting from the under side thereof. A presser quadrant 80 is supported beneath the die. The term quadrant is here used although the pressingA surface S1 of the member 80 is not truly a quadrant, being here shown as extending over a section of approximately twenty degrees.

For this reason, the center of rotation of the sector or quadrant presser member 80 may be located at a very substantial distance below the floor on which the machine is mounted. Thus, taking by way of example, the height of the surface 311 above the floor 64 as approximately thirty-six inches, the center ofcurvature of surface 811 may be as much as one hundred twenty inches below that surface and therefore as much as seven feet below the door level. For this reason it is highly impractical to actually pivot the presser member S0 on a stationary pivot on the machine while nevertheless it is necessary to cause the presser member to rotate about the center of curvature of its pressing surface 31.

rIherefore, opposite ends of the presser member 81B are provided with rollers 9i), 91, see FGU@ 4 as well as FIGURE l, resting on the pairs of cams 92, 93, the cams 92 and 93 being mounted on the shafts 94 and 95. Shaft 94 is provided, as seen in FIGURE l, with the gear 166 meshing with the gear 101 on shaft 102. Shaft 162 carries the pulley 103 connected by the belt l164 to pulley 135 on motor shaft 4i) of motor 41. Gear 166 also meshes with gear on shaft 95 of cam 93. Consequently, the rotation of the motor shaft 4% causes the cam shafts 94 and 95 to rotate through the belt, pulley and gear system above described.

The cams 92 and 93 are out of phase although they each have the same characteristics so that the simultaneous rotation of the cams will cause an oscillating pivoting of the presser member S0' so that its pressing surface 81 will rotate about its center of curvature.

Cams 92 and 93 are in the positions shown in FIGURE 1 prior to the feeding of a blank into the cutting and creasing press. The clockwise rotation of cam 92 accompanied by the counter-clockwise rotation of cam 93 through a single cycle in a clockwise direction raises rst the right hand end of the pressure member so that its surface 811 pushes the sheet into the die and then progressively at succeeding elements of surface 81 towards the left are raised against the die until the left hand surface is pushed against the die. Completion of the operation or single cycle of cams '92 and 93 replaces the presser member 80 in the position shown in FIGURE l.

To ensure that appropriate clearance will be provided for movement of the sheet between the die and the pressure member, cam 93 is provided with recess 115 so that in the position of the elements shown in FIGURES 1 and 4, the surface 81 of presser member 8i) will drop away from the die to provide a sufficient gap for movement of the sheet therebetween. This will also occur at the completion of a pressing operation when recess 116 of cam 92 moves opposite roller 99. Thus the presser member may operate to provide two pressing cycles for each cycle of operation of the cam, the sheet being drawn in. relatively rapidly while the presser member 80 is disengaged from the die 65.

The machine is provided at its delivery end with a supporting post carrying the frame 131. Frame 131 carries side frame members 132 on opposite sides of the machine, the said side Aframe mem-bers extending up to and beyond the areas of the press. Frame 131 carries shaft 135 on adjacent opposite ends of which are mounted the sprockets 136. Sprockets 136 on each side carry chains 137, 138. Supported across the chains at appropriately spaced intervals are the slat members 146. The slat members 140 are essentially channel members of U-shaped cross section, the exact arrangement of which will be hereinafter described. The `slat members are provided laterally with pin extensions 143 carrying rollers 144 which ride in the curved tracks 146 on the inner surfaces of the opposite frame members 132.

Consequently the chains 137 and 138 are supported at the right hand end on the sprockets 136 but over the rest of their course are supported by the engagement of the rollers 144 in the tracks 146, the said tracks being curved at 146a on each side at the left hand end of the chain course. The chain is driven by means of a connection to shaft 95 of cam 93 driven by gear 110 through gear 16) and the belt and pulley 104-193 from the motor di. Consequently the drive of the chain is exactly synchronous with and under the control of the operation of shaft 95 which also controls the cycle of movement of the presser member t).

The function of the chain is to move the slats from a sheet capturing position to asecond position where the slat pulls the sheet into the cutting and creasing press and then to a third position where the slat pulls the sheet to a delivery step. At each position, the slat must be held stationary so that the desired operation may be performed. Consequently, the movement of the chain is not a continuous one, but rather a regularly interrupted movement with the interruptions of movements taking place so that the slats will be halted in each case at the desired point while nevertheless the chain movements and hence the slat movements occur exactly in synchronism with all the other elements of the machine.

The take off of the drive for the chains and the slats from the drive `for the presser member ensures this synchronism. The shaft 135 is pro-vided at one end with a gear connected to the shaft 135 through an overrunning clutch 151 of well known construction and shown schematically in FIGURE 4. The overrunning clutch 51 is so arranged that when the gear 15G is driven in the direction indicated by the arrow 154, the sha-ft lds will be driven in that direction but when the gear 15d is driven in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow 154', the shaft 135 will not be driven.

The gear 15) is engaged with the rack member lo@ on the oscillating arm 151, the lower end of which is connected by the pin 162 to the end of link 163 which is stationarily pivoted at 164- on the frame of the machine. Cam operating shaft 95 for operating one end of the presser 8G has a crank 166 connected by pin 167 to one end of link 168 which is connected by the pin 169 to approximately the center of the link 163. Consequently as the shaft 95 rotates, the movement of the crank arm 166 in one direction will cause the arm 161 to move upwardly and in the other half of the cycle of rotation of crank arm 166 which results in movement of the crank arm 166 in the other direction, it will cause the arm lol to move downwardly.

When the member 161 moves downwardly, it drives the shaft 135, the sprockets 136, the chains 137, 133 and the slats 14d. When the arm 161 moves up, all of these ele- -ments stand still. Consequently, the drive when the mem4 ber 151 moves down, corresponds to that portion of the cycle when the pressing member Si? is disengaged from the die 65 while the portion of the cycle when the presser member Si? engages the die 65 corresponds to that portion of the cycle when the arm 161 carrying the rack 1.6i) moves up.

In order further to ensure that the shaft 135 will not drift around when the overrunning clutch is operating in the non-engaging direction, the shaft 13S is provided with a circular member 186 having a detent 151 in which a spring biased detent roller 132 may snap to maintain the shaft 135 detent in its stopped position. The operation of rack 160 down and to the left in a direction with thc overrunning clutch engaged to drive the shaft 135 will exert sufficient yforce to drive the roller 132 out of the `detent 131 and permit the sprocket to rotate with the `shaft 135 in the appropriate direction; the reversal of movement towards an up position of the rack 16# should occur and the machine is set so that it will occur when the detent roller 1&2 snaps into the detent 131 so that the sprockets 135 and the chains 137, 13S and the slats 14o will remain stationary.

The function of the slats is to provide a set of gripping jaws into which the paper sheets to be cut and creased will be fed between belts 53 and 54 so that these jaws will grip the leading edge of the sheet and pull the sheet in approximately timed relation through the various phases of the operation. Each of the slats as shown particularly in FIGURE 2 is provided with a plurality of forwardly projecting (that is, projecting,y to the left with respect to FIGURE 2) roller jaws 29%?. These jaws are rigid with and xed with respect to the slat body ido; they constitute a plurality of spaced separate units `between which the units of the `stop clement hereinafter described may be interdigitated.

Each o-f the lower jaws 200 coacts with an upper jaw 201; each of the upper jaws is essentially a` leaf spring mounted at 262 on 'the upper surface of each of the slats parallel to and overlying the respective lower jaws 2h@ and biased by its construction so that the teeth 203 of each of the upper jaws 2M will ordinarily tightly engage the teeth 204 of each of the lower jaws 2st?. Each of the jaw combinations 260, 2il1 is provided with a tongue member 2%, the plurality of tongue members used in connection with each of the slats 112i? ybeing rotatably supported on a common cross shaft 2li). Each of the tongues 206 is provided with a surface M2 which may be brought to bear against the under side of the upper spring jaw 201 to raise it. Each of the tongue members 2% is essentially a lever, the extension 21.4 of which on the other side of the pivot 210 of the tongue 2de is provided with a depressor roller 2in.

It will now be obvious that when the roller 2id is pushed down, the tongue 2% will rise from the dotted line position `shown in FIGURE 2 to the solid line position shown in FIGURE 2 and the teeth 293, 2G4- will be separated by reason of the raising of the upper jaws 261.

Consequently, one of the functions of my device is to move the slat body 140 of the slat combination 6h to the position 66a of FIGURE l and FIGURE 4 and to open the jaws so that the sheet as it is pushed out by the belts 53, 54 will ybe pushed into the opened jaws. The next operation then requires that the jaws be closed to engage the leading edge of the sheet. It is however, necessary that the sheet `be brought to an exactly accurate stop position in the jaws so that the blades of the cutting and creasing press will tbe in exact registry with the leading edge of the sheet.

For this purpose, I provide stop lingers 250 mounted on lever 251 which in turn is pivotally mounted on the /pivot shaft 252. The stop lingers 259 carry secured thereto the lower guide plate 253 individual to each stop linger. The jaws 263, 204 `connected to the main body 140 of the slot 6G Iare spaced so that as the slot 6G cornes around the curve 14611, the jaws 203-204 will be interdigitated with the stop lingers 250 and will come to rest in the position shown in FIGURES 2 and 4 with the stops spaced to the :right of the teeth of the jaws.

Consequently, when the sheet 9 to be die cut is fed by the belts S3, 54 'between the teeth 263, 2G4- of the jaws 299-201, the sheet 9 will be brought to a stop at the stop member 250 which exactly predetermines the stop position of the sheet with respect to the jaws. The slat unit 6l) including its main body 140 and all of the elements connected thereto are halted yat this time by reason of the Afact that rack during this operation is moving up.

It is necessary, however, to open the jaws just before the sheet 9 is fed therebetween. IFor this purpose at the position at which the slat assembly 6l) will stop at position 60a, a jaw operating system 270` is provided. The jaw operating system comprises a jaw opening lever 271 pivotally mounted on shaft 272 with individual operating levers 271 `for each of the rollers 216. The normal position of the lever 271 is that shown in the dotted lines of FIGURE 2 and the solid lines of `FIGURE 3.

The lever 271 is provided with a downwardly directed extension 273 adapted to engage the roller 216 when the slat assembly `til) comes to a halt with the roller 216 exactly below extension 273. When the slat 60 comes to the position 60a with the jaws closed, the jaws are acta-eee interdigitated with the stop fingers 251i and roller 216 underlies extension 273. Link 275 connected by pin 276 to lever 271 is pulled down by means of lever 278 connected at one end by pin 279 to link 275 `and stationary pivot on shaft 280 at the other end.

The lever 278 is moved to the down position by rotation of cam 282 against the bias of compression spring 283. The operation of shaft 284 of cam 282 is synchronized with the rest of the machine by an appropriate connection between cam shaft 284 and gear 106 or with the motor of the machine. When the Slat assembly has stopped at position 60a, the operation of the cam pushing down lever 278 and pulling down link 275, pulling down lever 271, depressing extension 214 of tongue 205 to raise the tongue' 206 to raise the jaw 201 and thereby open the jaws to receive the sheet which is now synchronized to feed into the jaws against the stop 25d. Since the slat -body 141i is mounted on the opposite rollers 144, it may pivot under this pressure to put the jaws out of line.

To avoid this pivoting, the slat body 1140 is provided with an extension 341) directed oppositely to that of jaw 20). As the jaw opening lever 271 moves down, the lever 278 pulling on link 301 pulls down end 302 of llever 303, rotating it clockwise around its pivot 304 and raising end 305 of lever` 303 against the under side of extension 394). The upward force of end 305 on eX- tension 30!) thus counteracts the undesired possible rotational effect of the downward yforce of lever 271 and the jaws, while opened, are maintained in proper orientation.

As soon as the leading edge of sheet 9 has entered the jaws against the stop 250, the jaws should close and thereafter the slat 61? may move to the rightl with respect to the figures.

Prior to the movement to the right, however, it becomes necessary to remove the stop fingers 251il For this purpose, link 310 is connected by pivot 311 to stop carrying mem-ber 251 and at its opposite end is connected by pin 312 to the end of lever 313 which is also pivotally mounted on shaft 281i. A cam 320 on shaft 321 operated by any appropriate connection of shaft 321 with, for instance, gear ltltl in timed relation to the rest of the machine, ywill operate to move the lever 313 and hence the stop carrying member 251 downwardly immediately after the leading edge of sheet 9 has reached the stop fingers 250 and either at the same time or au instant later than the jaws 200 and 201 close together.

The chains 137, 138 are timed by crank member 166 to begin to move just after the jaws have closed and the stop fingers 250 have been removed. It is desirable in addition to providing a bottom guide 253 for the paper, to provide a top guide 325 so that even warped sheets may be `controlled in their entry into the jaws by the chamfered surfaces 253m and 325a of the guides. It may `also be desirable to remove the guide 325 from controlling position when the stop fingers 250 and the guides 253 are removed.

For this purpose, the top guides 325 are pivotally lmounted on the common pivot 331i` and have extensions 331 beyond the pivot 330 connected by pins 332 to links 334 which in turn are connected by pins 335 to the levers 313. It will be obvious now that, as the levers 313 move down to pull the stop fingers 250` and the bottom guards 253 down to the position shown in FIGURE 3, the same operation will cause the top guides 325 to rise. By this means, the leading edge of the sheet 9 is fed to an exactly predetermined position into the stationary jaws 200, 201. The jaws are closed and then the slat 60 comprising the slat body 140 and the jaws 200, 201 is pulled to the right by the chains 137, 133 to pull the sheet 9 into a position between the die 65 and the presser member Sil.

The lever 313 and member 251 have at times been referred to as single members and have at times been referred to as plural members. It will be clear that each es of the stop fingers 251i may be connected to individual levers 251 which must be appropriately integrated together or may be connected to a single lever 251. Likewise, a single lever 3113 may be used to operate all of the stop fingers 25@ simultaneously from a single cam 32@ or individual levers operated by a long cam roller 32@ rather than an individual cam may be used. Whether one or the other expedient will be used will be determined by the relative size of the machine and the desired weight and strength to be given to the parts; the principle will be the same whether individual levers are integrated for simultaneous operation or a single lever carries the plurality of fingers.

When the slat 65a moves to the position occupied by slat 66h of FIGURE 4- owing to the downward movement of rack 16d, the rack 16? will reverse its operation, the chains 137, 138 will be stopped and the slats will be stopped at position 64th and the .paper sheet will have been inserted between the presser member Sil and the die 65. The presser member 8b may now be operated to squeeze the paper up on the die.

Two problems arise:

(l) It must be possible for the paper to be moved upwardly onto two die blades without losing their engagement with the jaws of the slat and Without being broken at the point of engagement; and

(2) After the paper has been squeezed onto the die, it must be peeled off before the slat can pull the paper away. For this purpose, I provide a means for lifting the slat up at position b and the paper is squeezed onto the die and pulling the slat down and thereby peeling the paper off the die after it has been squeezed onto the die and before the slat begins to move.

Primarily, this is performed by the mechanism shown at 340 of FIGURE 4. The mechanism at 343 of FIG- URE 4 provides a pair of opposite stop pins 341 mounted in appropriate vertical slats 342 and connected at their lower ends by pins 343 to levers 344, levers 344 at opposite sides (the far side not being shown) being integrated for simultaneous operation. The `cam 350 is so arranged that the shaft 351 is operated in synchronism with the machine by an appropriate connection to, for instance, gear 109. The cam 350 is so arranged that it permits the `compression spring 352 to drive lever 344` and stop pins 34d up just before the chains 137 and 138 are intended to stop and it will drive the stop pins 341 down just before the chains i137, 13S are intended to move.

Consequently, as the slat 6) moves from the position 65a to the position 6019, the stop pins 341 are moved up to stop position just before the slat reaches the position 65h so that the slat 60h will come against a positive stop at the stop pins 341. This will occur simultaneously with the reversal of movement of the rack 160 from the downward direction to the upward direction and furnishes an additional safety measure for ensuring that the chains and the slats will stand still at the right time.

The stop pins 341 thereby ensure accurate registry of the blank with the die, the registry of course having been initially determined between the blank and the slat by the stop fingers 25@ at position 60a. That is, first, exact registration between the blank and the slat is obtained at position 60a, and second, exact registration of the slat with respect to the die is obtained at position 60h, thereby assuring exact registration of the blank with the die when the slat has reached position 60h.

It is now necessary, during the pressing operation as previously described, to drive the slat upwardly to prevent the blank from being broken. For this purpose a pusher pin 405 is provided, mounted in the vertical guide 401 beneath the body 140 of slat e9. The lower end of pusher pin 413i) is `connected by pin 452 to lever 463 which lever is spring biased upwardly by spring 404 and controlled in its downward and upward movement by cam 411i on shaft 411, which shaft is driven in any appropriate manner in synchronism with the machine, for instance, from gear 100.

When the slat 6G is halted :by stop pins 341 and immediately prior to the operation of presser Sti, the movement of cam di@ to the position shown in FIGURE 4 causes the pusher pin fritti to move up, raising the entire slat itil-tl.` The track 146 is recessed upwardly at 1466 corresponding to position atb to permit the slat to be raised. `ln this way the blank is raised at one end just prior to the operation of the presser, the right end of the blank being raised to the highest position the sheet will reach, thereby preventing breaking of the sheet.

On completion of the pressing operation, the operation of cam 410 lowers the pusher pin 46@ permitting the slat 6) at position dbb to drop and peel the sheet oi the die. .lf the weight of the slat 6@ and the tension on the chains V137, 138 are not suicient to do this, stationary leaf spring members or other biasing means at position 60h may be utilized for this purpose.

It is desirable to provide every means to ensure accurate and absolute registry of the leading edge of the sheet with respect to the die. For this reason, in addition to the pusher pin `491B, the lever 493 when it is raised also rotates upwardly the end` 5l-lila of bell crank lever 41M around pivot 112 by means of connecting link 413 to move the front stop member 415 against the side of the slat body 14d opposite to that engaged by stop pins 341. This ensures that as the Slat is raised, it will be squeezed between stop elements 415 and 341 on opposite sides to an exact predetermined registere position.

After the presser operation has occurred, the cams 416 and 350 operate to lower pusher pin ddii from stop 415 and back stop 341 while at the same time as soon as stop pin 341 has dropped below the level of slat body 14?, the rack 16h reverses its operation from an upwardly directed movement to a downwardly directed movement to cause the chains 137, 138 to move again. This downwardly directed movement is completed when the slat 66 reaches the position 66C which is the delivery position.

At this time the rack 161B has completed its downward chain moving motion and has begun to reverse with the chain standing still. The chain is held stationary first by the fact that the overrunning clutch 151 does not permit transmission of movement to the sprocket shaft 135 and second by reason of the fact that the stop pins 341 have come into operation with respect to they slat at position 6tlb.

Thus, in every stopped position of the chains 137, 13S there should be a slat at position 66a, a slat at position 6017, and a Slat at position 6Go. Position 6de is the position for delivery of the blank, that is, for the release of the blank from the jaws 29h-201 where the blank is dropped on delivery belts t)` which may be continuously operated by belt roller 451 from any appropriate drive portion of the machine, the blank being delivered when the belt moves in a direction along the longitudinal axis of the machine outwardly from the delivery end of the machine. The delivery belt 450 may of course move sideways to deliver the blank laterally. The corresponding blank may then be delivered by the belt, if desired, to the stacking device or stack feed hopper of any other machine such as, for instance, a folding and taping machine, a folding and gluing machine, or a folding-stitching machine.

-The means for operating the slat jaws 260, 2F11 for opening the jaws at position 66C to permit the blank to drop out onto delivery belt 45t? is identical in conformation and operation with the means for opening the jaws at position a. That is, members 478, 475, 471, 501 and 505 and 482 operate in exactly the same manner as the previously described members 278, 275, 271, 3ll1 and 305 and 232 at position 69a. This operation results in release of the leading edge of a blank from the jaws, the

which ends 6d? said blank now having been out and creased, the blank now falling by gravity onto the delivery belt 450.

By this means therefore, the blank is fed into a slat which is designed to pull the blank through the machine the said slat being stationary with its jaws open when the blank is fed into the jaws, the jaws being interdigitated with stop ngers to predetermine exact registry of the blank with the jaws; the blank is then pulled by the Slat and the now closed jaws to a position where the blank is between the presser member and the die; the Slat is stopped and raised as the presser member pushes the sheet up onto the die; the slat is then lowered to peel the sheet off the die and is then moved with its jaws still closed to a delivery position where it is stopped, pulling -the blank with it; the jaws are then opened at the delivery position, the blank drops out onto a delivery belt and the operation is completed.

Exact registry of the blank is maintained at all times with the slat and exact registry of the slat with each of the positions and especially with the pressing position is maintained both by the stop member 341 including the front stop member 415 and the detent member 181-182 which comes into operation when the rack 160 is moving in the non-driving direction. A simplified means is therefore provided for automatically feeding sheets from a stack in timed relation toA all elements of the cutting and creasing press through the cutting and creasing press to the delivery position. Once the machine is set up and registry obtained, only unskilled labor need be used to load the stacking section 1G at one end and carry away the sheets from a delivery belt 45@ at the other end.

The stop ngers 251)` may be made longitudinally adjustable on their support members 251 so that the amount of bite of the sheet in the jaws may readily be adjusted to obtain the desired registry.

Illustrated in FIGURES 5 8 is an improved construction of slat members and the pairs of cooperating jaws 260, 201 secured thereto. Slat member 660 is a tubular member having elements 661 of chains 137, 138 secured thereto at each end thereof. Pivot assemblies 665 extend forward of slat tt and include pins 606 to of upper jaws 664 are pivotally secured. Set screw 621 and lock nut 622 maintain pins 606 against longitudinal movement.

Upper jaws 604 extend rearward from pins 606 through slat side openings 611, 612 with the toothed ends 603 of upper jaws 694 being positioned for engagement with rearwardly extending lower jaws 662.

Individual coil springs 668 positioned by guide studs 609 and jaw holes 610, bias each of the movable upper jaws 604 into engagement with stationary lower jaws 6%2. Closure disk 636 over hole 610 is secured to jaw 61M by screw means 631 to retain -spring 668 in operative position. Bottom openings 613 in slat 60d provide extension 273 of jaw operating system 271i access to upper jaws 66d. Disk 639 is removable through opening 613 to permit spring 608 to be replaced without dismounting jaw 61M from its pivot.

Pins 615, thread at each end, together with nuts 616 and lock washers 617 provide rigid securing means for lower jaws 602 and pivot assemblies 60S. Slat 666, being a tubular member, is especially rigid for its weight and the rigidity thereof is increased by pins 615 which extend laterally therethrough. The tubular slat 660 and pairs of cooperating jaws 662, 604 combine to achieve a structure which is particularly short in height.

A jawoperating system 271ir differs from jaw operating system 27) in that jaw opening lever 271 has been replaced by a centrally pivoted opening lever 271', mounted on shaft 272', having jaw engaging extension 273 extending upwardly therefrom and journaled between guide posts 620. Except for the diierences noted, the elements of jaw operating system 270 are identical to the elements of system 270. Therefore, the same reference numerals have been used to identify the same elements of both systems 270, 270. Since the operation of jaw operating system 270 has been fully explained, the operation of system 270', being substantially the same, should now be obvious.

1n the foregoing, I have described my invention only in connection with `a preferred illustrated embodiment thereof. Since many variations and modifications of my invention should now be obvious to those skilled in the art, l prefer to be bound, not by the descriptions herein, but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A gripping member for engaging the leading edge of a sheet; said member comprising a hollow slat of a generally rectangular cross-section whose dimension from front to rear is greater than its height; a plurality of spaced stationary jaws removably carried by said slat and a plurality of complementary movable jaws; indidividual biasing means for each of said movable jaws disposed entirely Within said slat and urging said movable jaws into engagement with their associated stationary jaws; said movable jaws being rigid members extending laterally through said slat with portions of said siat over lying opposite surfaces of said movable jaws; one end of each of said movable jaws being mounted on a pivot secured to said slat and positioned forward thereof; said stationary jaws projecting horizontally and to the rear of said Slat; said slat having apertures aligned with said movable jaws through which means are extendable to operate said movable jaws out of engagement with their associated stationary jaws; each of said movable jaws having an opening in alignment with the aperture` of said slat associated with the respective movable jaw; a retaining means removably secured to said movable jaw and extending over said` opening to retain said biasing means within said slat; said apertures being large enough to permit said retaining means and said biasing means to pass therethrough so that said biasing means may readily be changed; fastening means extending through said slat from front to back and operatively securing said movable and said stationary/,jaws to said slat.

2. The member as set forth in claim 1 in which all dimensions of said apertures in said Slat are less than the dimension from front to rear of said siat.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 969,418 Staude- Sept. 6, 1910 1,401,423 Meisel Dec. 27, 1921 1,489,339 Banzett Apr. 8, 1924 2,024,140 Beliuche Dec. 17, 1935 2,106,199 Wormser Jan. 25, 1938 2,258,880 Bobst Oct. 14, 1941 2,262,631 Beliuche Nov. 11, 1941 2,418,065 Bobst Mar. 25, 1947 2,509,030 Banthin May 23, 1950 2,730,364 Thomsen Jan. 10, 1956 2,773,585 Cauleld Dec. 11, 1956 2,882,049 Koch Apr. 14, 1959 FORE'GN PATENTS 437,337 Great Britain Oct. 7, 1937 

